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The Big Bang Theory spin-off Young Sheldon picked up by CBS

American network CBS has picked up the new Big Bang Theory spin-off about Sheldon Cooper’s childhood.

The new series is titled Young Sheldon and will focus on child prodigy Sheldon Cooper’s high school years, which infamously took place when he was still in his pre-teens. In The Big Bang Theory canon, Sheldon started college at eleven years old, graduated at fourteen years old and received his first doctorate at the tender age of sixteen.

Taking on the role of 9-year-old Sheldon is child actor and theatre critic Iain Armitage, who currently portrays Ziggy Chapman in HBO drama Big Little Lies. Zoe Perry, who is the real-life daughter of Sheldon’s mother’s actress Laurie Metcalf, will play the younger version of Mary Cooper.

Lance Barber, Raegan Revord and Montana Jordan will also star.

Much like The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon will be a half-hour single-camera comedy. The Big Bang Theory creators Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro created the series, and Sheldon actor Jim Parsons will be involved as an executive producer.

The series will air on CBS in the Autumn in the US. Young Sheldon doesn’t have a UK broadcaster yet, but The Big Bang Theory airs on E4 in the UK within a few weeks of broadcasting in the US.